FICTION

Vigil Harbor

Pantheon. May 2022. 416p. ISBN 9781101870389. $29. F
COPY ISBN
The National Book Award–winning Glass (I See a House Among the Trees) reveals the state of the world using one small coastal community, Vigil Harbor, MA, ten years in the future. College drop-out Brecht, who says he is generation NL (No Life), moves home to recuperate after an activist-set bomb blast in New York City killed a friend. His stepfather, Austin, has a successful architectural practice designing and building homes to withstand the fury of stronger coastal storms. Petra pretends to be a journalist as she dogs Austin, trying to get him to explain his insensitive breakup with her artist friend Issa, a woman who imagines she was a creature from the sea. Margo, an ex-English teacher with an attitude, finds an unlikely friendship with Mike because his wife ran off with her husband. Mike doesn’t dwell on his new-found bachelor status, because, as a marine biologist, he’s more concerned about the dire effects of climate change and disappearing ocean species. Everyday life comes to a halt when climate activists bent on violence set off a bomb on the Harvard campus and escape to nearby Vigil Harbor. The bar is going up on surviving what is to come.
VERDICT Deftly weaving together eight intersecting stories, Glass offers fiction steeped in current events that her loyal followers will appreciate.
Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.


RELATED 

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?